About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

39 St. Louis U. L.J. 933 (1994-1995)
Changing Patterns of Regional Law Making in Southeast Asia

handle is hein.journals/stlulj39 and id is 945 raw text is: CHANGING PATTERNS OF REGIONAL LAW MAKING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA* MARY E. HISCOCK' I. INTRODUCTION DIFFERENT patterns of law making have been established in Southeast Asia in recent years. The origin of this change is visible in the 1960s, although its fruits are in the 1990s. Law in its various forms (whether hard law--legislation--or soft law'-self regulation and guidelines) increasingly originates in transnational or multilateral bodies, rather than in a national lawmaker, although it may pass through a national legislature or other lawmaker. Much of this law attempts to harmonize national legal systems in order to facilitate international transactions by setting forward common or compatible principles, rules and institutions. These changes have had or will have a significant effect on transnational commercial transactions, and they are wrought more by consensus after consultation (musyawarat) rather than by imposition. Governments have played the dominant role in this process, supported principally by bureaucrats with less input from professionals and very little from lawyers and, on the whole, despite the difficulty of determining the criteria of success, this is a beneficial development for the region, and in the next two decades, may transform the trading environment. Considerably more needs to be done within national regimes to nurture and intensify this process of change. * This Paper was in draft form for delivery at the Academy Meeting in St. Louis, but publication and discussion of the draft text of the Foreign Investment Principles of Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) were embargoed by the Australian government before the meetings of officials and heads of government. The final version of the paper was written after the final agreement on the text of the APEC Foreign Investment Principles in Bogor, Indonesia in November 1994. A version of this Paper was presented in Brisbane on December 9, 1994 to the Asia Pacific Law Forum, jointly sponsored by the City University of Hong Kong, the University of Canberra and the Queensland University of Technology. ** Professor of Law, Bond University. 1. For a discussion of this in a wider sphere, see Christine M. Chinkin, The Challenge of Soft Law: Development and Change in International Law, 38 INVL & COMP. L.Q. 850 (1989).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most